Former lawmaker Oh Young-sik has been appointed chief of the Korea Railroad Corp. (Korail).Oh, 51, a three-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), was inaugurated as CEO of Korail Tuesday. The CEO position of the state-run railway had remained vacant for nearly seven months since the former head Hong Soon-man resigned in July.After the company's board of directors selects three candidates and the finance ministry's review committee vets them, the transport minister chooses the nominee and the president approves it. The candidate is then appointed to the position."I'll make every effort to intensify the public role of the railway and boost the competitiveness of the railroad industry through innovation," he said in his inaugural speech at Korail headquarters in Daejeon, Tuesday.Oh said he would accelerate the merger of Korail and SR, an affiliate of Korail that provides a bullet train railway service from Suseo in southern Seoul to Mokpo and Busan. The former Park Geun-hye administration established SR to enhance Korail's competitiveness by breaking its monopoly, but the Moon Jae-in administration has sought to merge SR with Korail to strengthen the public role of railway services."The merger with SR is a task we can't delay anymore because of increasing public inconvenience. Forcibly dividing short distances of railways and putting the operators up for competition will mar the effect of an ‘economy of scale' and cause national inefficiency," he said. Oh also pledged to establish a safer system, improve services through management renovation and strengthened marketing, set up plans for the inter-Korean railway, and improve relations with the labor union. On Wednesday he took a KTX train from the second terminal of Incheon International Airport to Gangneung Station in Gangwon Province, the venue for the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games, and checked passenger facilities and services ahead of the Games where a large number of visitors are expected to use the railway service.The former lawmaker did not run in the general election in 2016 for a fourth term, and in 2017, he joined the election camp for then DPK candidate Moon. His career background has caused criticism by some people in the railway industry that the government appointed an aide to the President instead of a railway expert. Regarding the row, Oh said he would prove his capability by improving the nation's railway industry.